Battle of the Beaks: Part 2

05/03/23 • 33 min

1 Listener

This is the second episode in the ultimate Battle of the Beaks!! We're featuring six of the worlds most unique and specially adapted bird beaks over two episodes. Only one will be crowned the winner!
VOTE HERE for your favorite beak.
If you think we missed a reeeally cool beak, let us know! Leave a review, or comment on our socials. Find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.Learn more about bird conservation programs in Africa. BirdLife South Africa and Nature Kenya are great starting points. Hookpod! A new and innovative tool to help Albatross and the fishing industry get along. Listen to a previous episode featuring Sarah and the Laysan Albatross for so much more! See photos of these epic beaks: African Openbill, Laysan Albatross, White-tipped Sicklebill. Andrés' said it best! Bird Friendly coffee will help the White-tipped Sicklebill and many other birds. Order from Birds and Beans today! 10% of your purchase supports this podcast when you use our link.
John Kinghorn represents the mighty African Openbill. John is a qualified terrestrial and National bird guide through the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA). He has formed part of three historic bird race teams (2017-2019) to have participated in the globally acclaimed Champions of the Flyway bird race for conservation, raising a combined amount of over R250,000 over two years for the respective BirdLife International partners involved.
Dr. Sarah Gutowsky is bringing Laysan Albatross facts. Sarah is a Research Adjunct and Instructor in Biology at Dalhousie University and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Acadia University. All of her research projects have found a way to tackle conservation issues threatening birds all over the planet, on land or at sea. Her current research focus is on studying the drivers of regional trends in Common eiders on the east coast, supported through the Mitacs Accelerate Program in partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Andrés Jiménez thinks White-tipped Sicklebills are the clear winners. He is a close friend of the podcast! You'll recognize his voice from earlier episodes. He is a Costa Rican wildlife biologist with a keen interest in snakes, frogs, birds and how human relationships are interconnected with the living world. He studied Tropical Biology in Costa Rica and has a Masters in Environmental Problem Solving from York University. Follow him at @andresjimo
Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan and now coordinates the Ontario Piping Plover Program for Birds Canada.

Previous Episode

Battle of the Beaks: Part 1

Six beaks enter the ring, only one will be crowned the ultimate BEST BEAK!
In this special two part episode, we explore some of the weirdest, and most fascinating bird beaks, with experts from around the world. Voting will open after the second episode is released, and YOU will decide which beak is the best!
Learn more about the good work that Wildlife Preservation Canada is doing for Loggerhead Shrike and many other species.
Get involved with Puffin Patrol in Newfoundland through CPAWS, and learn more about the incredible Puffling Patrol efforts in Iceland.See photos of these epic beaks: Loggerhead Shrike, Wrybill, Atlantic Puffin.
Bird-friendly coffee is an easy way to help birds every morning! Birds and Beans donates 10% of your purchase to this podcast and bird conservation in Canada when you use this link.
Hazel Wheeler (they/them) has worked with Loggerhead Shrikes for a decade, and is their biggest fan. Hazel is the Conservation Programs Director at Wildlife Preservation Canada. They have been bitten by shrikes more times than they care to remember, but they have never bitten back.
Russell Cannings represents the underappreciated Wrybill. Russ grew up in the birdy Okanagan Valley, British Columbia where his nature-loving family left him no choice but to become obsessed with the great outdoors. A university exchange to New Zealand in 2008 would prove formative for his birding (and future nuptials!) and he now calls it home. He has swapped biology fieldwork for teaching history but he still gets out as much as possible in his local "patch".
Katja Kochvar thinks you need to love Atlantic Puffins as much as she does. Katja fell in love with biological field research in the deciduous forests of her home state, Pennsylvania. Now, she is studying Atlantic puffin visual communication as a Master's Student at Memorial University of Newfoundland. In the Fall, she will be starting a PhD at Princeton University in the pursuit of more exciting research on avian colouration! Stay tuned for updates on her research at @gotcha__katja
Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan and now coordinates the Ontario Piping Plover Conservation Program for Birds Canada. Follow her work at @ontarioplovers

Next Episode

The Wake-up Call: Red Knot

On this episode Andrea and Amie MacDonald nerd out about shorebirds! Amie shares the joys of researching Red Knots in James Bay in northern Ontario, and helps us explore the threats these long distance migrants face across their full range. Did someone say...horseshoe crabs?!
Bird-friendly coffee is an easy way to help birds every morning! Birds and Beans donates 10% of your purchase to this podcast and bird conservation in Canada when you use this link.
Dive deeper with Amie's book recommendations, The Narrow Edge and Moonbird! Amie also shared this immmpressssive flight path of a Red Knot that was tracked using Motus.
Amie MacDonald is working to expand the Motus Wildlife Tracking System in Western Canada. Prior to joining Birds Canada, she studied Red Knots on the James Bay coast for her Masters degree. She has also spent several years working as a field technician, primarily with shorebirds in the Bay of Fundy and James Bay, but also with seabirds, passerines, and small mammals on various projects.
Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan and now coordinates the Ontario Piping Plover Conservation Program for Birds Canada. Follow her work at @ontarioplovers
This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change is supported by funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada. The views expressed herein are solely those of Birds Canada.